MANCHESTER, NH - The Bridgeport Sound Tigers fell to the Manchester Monarchs Friday night by a final score of 4-1. Joey Diamond scored with less than two minutes left to cut the Manchester lead to 2-1, but two empty-net goals scored by Manchester allowed them to pull away late. Kenny Reiter got the start in net for the Sound Tigers and made 31 saves.

Scott Sabourin scored the opening goal of the game for Manchester early in the first period. With the puck in the Sound Tigers end, Sabourin forced a turnover in the corner, drove to the net and got a backhand past Reiter to make it a 1-0 lead.

The second period started with the score still 1-0 Monarchs, but Manchester capitalized on the power-play nearly halfway through the second to double their lead. Brandon Kozun took a pass from Zach O’Brien and fired a shot towards Reiter. The puck was knocked down in front, but Kozun followed his shot and jammed it in to give the Monarchs a two-goal lead.

It remained 2-0 through most of the third period, but a power play with 3:13 left allowed the Sound Tigers to pull the goalie for the 6-on-4 advantage. It paid off at the the 18:20 mark, when Alan Quine won an offensive-zone draw. Diamond got to the puck in the circle and rifled a wrist shot past Monarchs goaltender Martin Jones to cut the Sound Tigees lead in half.

After Diamond’s goal, the Sound Tigers won the center-ice faceoff and sent it deep into the Monarchs end, which allowed them to pull Reiter in favor of the extra attacker once again. This time, however, the Monarchs took advantage by winning a loose puck, and sending it the length of the ice for the empty-net goal. Linden Vey was credited with the one that made it 3-1, while Sean Backman added anoter empty-netter with just seven seconds to play.

The Sound Tigers return home for two more games this weekend. They will faceoff against the Portalnd Pirates Saturday night before a Sunday afternoon contest against the Hartford Wolf Pack.